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BOOK 109 PMH <br />Approximately nine months ago, about the time of our budget hearings <br />in 1998, I heard that Sheriff Wheeler had initiated an investigation of the <br />matter of the fire hose. Sometime later I farther heard that the investigation <br />by the Sheriff had turned up nothing of substance, but that he had turned the <br />matter over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for them to <br />investigate. No questions were ever asked, nothing ever happened, and I <br />have smiled often at the thought of the Sheriff searching for a needle that is <br />not in the haystack. Fran Adams welcomes an investigation because she has <br />nothing to hide. <br />After the leak to the press of the investigation and the subsequent call <br />to me on April 16 by a member of the press inquiring about these events, I <br />felt it was time to place the matter that there was an investigation in the <br />record which I did at our Board meeting on April 20. <br />The article on April 21 in the Press Journal states that the complaint <br />filed by the Sheriff to FDLE claims that Fran Adams received surplus <br />property in violation of county rules. That claim is a blatant <br />misrepresentation of fact: Fran Adams never received fire hose or any other <br />county surplus property. A simple phone call or interview with any one <br />supposedly involved would have discovered the truth in less time than a 911 <br />dispatch. <br />The Sheriff is quoted as saying that he was simply a pass-through for <br />the investigation. What could be further from the truth? The Sheriff himself <br />initiated an investigation some nine months ago and after finding nothing of <br />substance, filed a complaint with the Florida Department of Law <br />Enforcement. Obviously a political gestapo move by what should be our <br />most respected law enforcement official. <br />The Sheriff is further quoted as saying " Adams asked Wright for some <br />fire hose and when she received it was dissatisfied with the quality and <br />demanded newer hose". What tree did the Sheriff fall out of? This statement <br />is such a bald-faced untruth that I cannot. believe the Sheriff would lower <br />himself to say that in the absence of any substantiating evidence. Fran Adams <br />never asked for, received, nor has she ever had in her possession any fire <br />hose, now or ever before or atter. <br />So here we have the chief law enforcement'officer of the County using <br />his position and resources seeking to politically and publicly damage those <br />who may have questioned or disagreed with his decisions. But worse, his <br />credibility is at stake. He has incriminated innocent people in his quest and <br />made untruthful statements to support his clandestine efforts. These gestapo <br />tactics went out of style with Adolph Hitler. A Sheriff without credibility is a <br />serious concern to everyone of us in Indian River County. <br />MAY 119 1999 <br />so 0 <br />